Contributing to recent research into settler colonialism, this paper takes an on the ground look at how this system manifests today. This research turns its lens on the white settler, unmasks settler myths of innocence and contributes to an understanding of how whiteness and white supremacism shape settler colonialism in what is now called the United Sates. This is a placed based study, focusing on the Klamath and Salmon Rivers. Consequences and complexities of the “back to the land” movement are looked at, and the question of “back-to-whose-land?” is asked? A convivial research approach, which is a back and forth interplay of analysis and action, has been utilized for this project. Also examined are efforts by settlers to engage with unsettling, both as individuals and through a collective settler effort at organizing, under the name “Unsettling Klamath River.” Unsettling can be described as the work of white settlers within the broader movement to decolonize, that is led by Indigenous People. Some false narratives have begun to shift and yet, this population of white settlers remains largely in a state of paralysis due to; a fragile settler identity, a reliance on a false entitlement and a debilitating fear of what will happen if truth-telling occurs. Building upon lessons learned, this paper concludes by offering ways that white settlers can begin to chip away at oppressive structures and move forward out of a state of complicity into a sense of responsibility, that is long overdue.

Indigenous woman heals from intergenerational trauma, recovers from personal trauma, conquers addiction, and reconnects with her identity and cultural practices. Indigenous woman lives happily ever after. The end. You want the story to end there because it sounds pretty and gives you warm feelings about the possibility of change. Perhaps that story lifts and eases colonial guilt with the knowledge that individuals can make it through on their own accord. All they have to do is “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”. Survival of the fittest. Darwinism. Rise above your circumstances and you get a happy ending. Enough of all this privilege, power, oppression, and colonial legacy nonsense. Be a go getter.

For Indigenous peoples living in a colonial settler state (a state where the colonizers never have and never will leave), the story does not end there but continues on. After personal redemption and individual freedom then the fight…

In order to work in solidarity with Indigenous people of the Klamath River, we must take a stand against settler-imposed violence, and currently a major form of violence against Native People comes in the form of gentrification and ecological devastation due to the cannabis industry.

This is a difficult and complex issue facing our community, and we recognize that there is no miracle cure to the problem.

The pot economy primarily benefits settlers, and by raising property and rent costs, it is harder for Native People to keep their homes. The runoff of water from pot farms contributes to the already dangerously high levels of toxic algae in the watershed(1). The commercial cultivation of cannabis also consumes appalling amounts of water, destroying habitat of native food sources such as salmon(2). Irrigation is one of the larger issues facing the health of this watershed. The importation of soil, amendments and laborers…

. EZLN: The Walls Above, The Cracks Below (And To The Left) February 2017 The Storm On Our Path For us, as Zapatista originary peoples, the storm—the war—has been going on for centuries. It arrived to our lands with the lies of the dominant civilization and religion. At that time, the sword […]

What do anarchists mean when we talk about love? For some the word is inextricably associated with pacifism. Spiritual leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. preached love and non-violence as one and the same. “Peace and love”—together, these words have become a mantra invoked to impose passivity on those who would stand up for…